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Pine Bluff 



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JCf rCRS0N GOeiNTY 

g :x=: . t"^ | ARKANSAS. \t^* ^^^% 
KULIv DESCRIPTION. 




WORLD'S F=KIR EDITION. 



PUBLISHED BY 

Jefferson County Immigration Bureau. 

May, 1893. 



niNBCa)L:puL/isni co. 



LONOKB Co. 



JUN 18 19K 




njoy^ 



CLEVELflMD Co. 






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PINE BLUFF 

...AND... 

JEFFERSON COUNTY, 

ARKANSAS. 

FULL DESCRIFTION. 



WORLD'S Fair Edition. 



PUBLISHED BY 

Jefferson Cfiuiify fJiireaii of Aiiriciilfiire, Miiiiiifacfiire, and lininigration. 
May, 1893. 






Pine Bluffs Jefferson County 



ARKANSAS. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The rapid increase of the population of our country 
and the renewed good will which has arisen among a 
common people, north, south, east and west, have 
awakened an earnest desire that the South and South- 
west may now be speedily developed and invigorated by 
an immigration such as has given to the North and 
Northwest their wonderful thrift and mighty power. 
The same plan of work seems to have suggested itself 



Immigration was constituted and county subordinate 
boards were to be organized in every county of the 
State. Fifty thousand dollars was voted to be raised 
by a pro rata assessment on the several counties. 
Pamphlets, maps and like means were to be employed 
to make known in a plain, straightforward manner the 
resources of Arkansas. The colored people participated 
in the State convention and their interests are included 
in this work. The design of the promoters of this 
movement was to make known, without any exaggera- 




te the citizens of the several Southern and Southwest- 
ern States, viz: organization of State central and 
county subordinate bureaus of immigration. In con- 
formity with this sentiment the Governor of the State 
of Arkansas at the opening of the year 1888, issued an 
invitation to all the county judges and mayors of cities 
to appoint delegates for an immigration convention to 
be holden in Little Rock, on January 31. 1888. The 
convention met in the hall of the House of Representa- 
tives and numbored more than 400 men, the very best 
in the State, noted for the liberality of their views and 
their progressive spirit. A State Executive Board of 



tion, the true condition of the State of Arkansas as it is, 
and the intention of the Jefferson County Bureau was to 
make known in the same manner the resources of Jet- 
ferson County. Men of capital and enterprise, the 
farmer of means, the skilled mechanic and the thrifty 
laboring man, all were invited to read our simple state- 
ment, correspond with us, and, if possible visit our 
county to see for themselves before an investment is 
ventured upon or settlement made. 

The present State government is inaugurating a sim- 
ilar policy and our publication for 1SS8 is now revised 
and enlarged, that it may truly represent Pine Blufi and 
Jefferson County in 1893. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



GENERAL HISTORY OF ARKANSAS. 

Arkansas was discovered by Marquette in July, 1673. 
About May i, 16S6, Henri de Tonty established the 
first white settlement at Arkansas Post, leaving there 
six Frenchmen. It then formed a part of the famous 
Louisiana Territory, which extended to Florida on the 
east, Texas on the west, the Gulf of Mexico on the 
south, and what is now the Dominion of Canada on the 
north. In 1S03, Napoleon Bonaparte, fearing its loss 
to England, ceded this immense region to the United 



Washington. It has an area of square miles of 52,198; 
in acres, 33,406,720. It is divided into 76 counties, and 
had, according to the census of 1870, a population of 
484,471. The census of 1880 gave Arkansas a popula- 
tion of 802,525; that of 1890, 1,128,178. 

The Arkansas river, taking its rise in the Rocky 
Mountains of Colorado, flows in a southeasterly course 
a distance of 2,000 miles to the Mississippi river; it 
passes diagonally through the State, and it, with the 
White, Red, Black, Wachita, Saline and other rivers, 
affords navigable highways in the State of over 3,500 




MAIN STREET, LOOKING SOUTH FROM BARRAQUE 



States in consideration of an aggregate sum of $15,000,- 
000. From the year of cession immigrants from Can- 
ada and from Europe began to come. Year by year 
their number swelled, so that in a brief period this 
region was sufficiently populated to call for the estab- 
lishment of Territories and States. 

Arkansas became a Territory in March 1S19, a State 
on June 15, 1S36. Its boundaries are: Missouri on the 
north, Louisiana on the south, the Mississippi river on 
the east, and the Indian Territory on the west. It lies 
between the 33d and 37th degrees of north latitude, and 
between the 12th and iSth of longitude west from 



miles, or greater than the waterways of any other State 
of the Union. 

About one-fourth of the lands of the State are level, 
the rest being hilly or mountainous. The northern, 
western, central and part of the southwestern countie* 
are hilly or mountainous, yet fertile for grain or fruit. 
In sections of the eastern and southern part of the State 
there is a general level — a prairie is here found 100 
miles long and from 3 to 15 miles wide, with luxuriant 
grass. Upon the banks of the rivers and streams of this 
section are the richest cotton lands in the world. There 
are in the State 30,000 square miles of valuable timber 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



of many varieties, and over 12,000 square miles of coal 
fields, besides an abundance of iron, magnanese, zinc, 
copper, marble, granite, limestone, marl, lithographic 
and soapstone. 

JEFFERSON COUNTY. 

This county, which is now to engage our special 
attention, possesses many attractive qualities. Its loca- 
tion is in Southeastern Arkansas, where are situated 
the richest cotton and corn lands. A view of the map 
will show how it is divided midway by the Arkansas 
River, whose numerous landings for steamboats afiord 



corn, to which their unskilled labor is adapted. These 
bottom lands are just what similar lands in Illinois were 
fifty years ago; undrained swamps are close by and no 
diversity of crop to call for better labor and better 
modes of living. The creek bottoms and uplands are 
best for new white settlers until the lowlands are more 
open and better drained. 

Besides the Arkansas River, Bayou Bartholomew 
winds its way through the county. There are several 
mineral springs, though the waters have not been anal- 
yzed: White Sulphur, Cantrels, Lees and Germans. 




SECOND AVENUE, LOOKING EAST FROM CHESTNUT. 



facilities for travel and transportation. 

The latitude of Pine Blufi, the capital and center of 
the county, is 34 degrees north, and longitude 15 
degrees west from Washington. The county is 29 miles 
square, containing 841 square miles or 538,240 acres. 
Its population, white and colored, in 1870, was 15,714; 
in 1880, 24,000; in 1890, 40,821. The colored people 
form three-fourths of the population. Their pre- 
ponderance up to the present time is owing to the 
richness of the bottom lands, to which they are accli- 
mated, and the almost exclusive growth of cotton and 



Noble's Lake, Lake Dick and Horse Shoe Lake are the 
only lakes of considerable size. 

LANDS. 

All the land on the north side of the Arkansas River 
is bottom land; almost all on the south side is upland. 
The following is a classified statement of county lands: 

Bottom land acres, 363,000 

Uplands " 175,000 

Land in cultivation " go.ooo 

Unimproved land susceptible of cultivation " 370,000 
Vacant United States land " 15,000 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



Land belonging to L. R. M. R. & T. Ry. .acres, lo.ooo 

Acres in cotton " 67,450 

The bottom land belongs to the alluvial delta and 
its productive power may be known from the fact that 
in 1S90 the number of bales of cotton made was 75.000. 
Excepting a single county in Mississippi, this was a 
greater amount than was raised in any county of any 
of the Southern States, The capacity of the county is 
susceptible of a vast increase. In the bottom lands the 
soil is sandy, sandy loam, and stiff clay; in the uplands 
it is light, except the creek bottoms. 



on time, with from 6 to 10 per cent, interest on deferred 
payments. More favorable terms are usually to be had 
by special contract. 

The higher price of bottom land over upland is ex- 
plained by the fact of the superiority in cash value of 
its products over those of upland. 

The vacant United States and State homestead lands 
in Jefferson County are mostly situated in the southwest 
section and are in great part upland. They are not 
considered to be of great value compared to purchas- 
able land. 




^ — !!ii-^"'^ v:^^ ^^^i..^ i-,.,v_ 








STREET LOOKING SOUTH FROM BARRAQUE. 



To make known to those at a distance the exact price 
of land, is not possible within the limits of this pam- 
phlet. Very much depends on the character of the 
soil, the location and improvements. A fair estimate 
may be made from this schedule: 

Per Acre. 
Uncultivated and unimproved upland. . . .Si. 00 to 10.00 
" " ■' bottomland i. 00 to 20.00 

Improved and cultivated upland 2.00 to 30.00 

bottom land. ... 10.00 to 50.00 

.\t present there are for sale 100,000 acres of land — 

bottom land and upland — in any desirable size of farm. 

The terms generally are one-third cash, the remainder 



There is also a large quantity of land which falls year 
by year to the State for the non-payment of taxes and 
other causes, and which is donated by the State to any 
resident at a merely nominal sum. Sometimes the 
titles to these lands are so complicated that it is better 
to have nothing to do with them; at other times valu- 
able farm lands are permanently acquired at a very 
small rate. 

There are special regulations for acquiring the above 
lands, which can be easily obtained. Jefferson County 
being in the Little Rock District, enquiries as to United 
States lands shound be addressed to Register 
United States Land Office at Little Rock. Ark. En- 
quiries as to State lands may be addressed to Commis- 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



sioner of State Lands, Little Rock. Ark. On May 29th, 
1S88, the United States land in Arkansas was with- 
drawn from sale and made subject to homestead entry 

only. 

PRODUCTS. 

The climate and soil are very favorable to almost 
every crop, and no country aflords so many days on 
which outdoor work may be performed. The chief 
field products are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, rye, sor- 
ghum, peas. Several grasses do well; clover, timothy, 
orchard, red top and millet. 



The most luxuriant native grasses, though natural 
enemies of cotton, are Bermuda and Johnson. The 
Johnson grass is an alternatis'e crop and as a fertilizer 
for corn is good. 

G.\RDEN. 

Vegetables of nearly every known kind grow here 
planted as early as February. In bottom lands fertiliz- 
ing is unknown, but in the uplands it is beneficial. 
Spring and fall cabbage are easily grown on the same 
ground. Two crops of Irish potatoes and corn are of 
frequent occurrence. Cauliflower and kindred plants 
thrive; 400 bushels of sweet potatoes, 200 of Irish pota- 




BARRAQUE STREET, LOOKING EAST FROM CHESTNUT. 



Per Acre, 
^-ield of seed cotton on bottom land. .1,400 lbs 

upland 800 " 

bottom land. . 35 bu 

upland 15 

bottomland.. 30 

upland 12' 

bottom land. . 40 

upland 20 

bottom land. . 40 
upland 20 



corn 



wheat 



oats 



rye 

field peas. 



sorghum 100 gal 

millet on bottom lands i^ ton 

timothy " ' lyi " 

red top " " 2 

clover " " tl4 " 



toes, 500 of onions, and 800 of red-top globe turnips to 
the acre are not uncommon crops. The climate is so 
genial to vegetable growth that gardeners as a rule main- 
tain a garden the year round, and every day their 
wagons are to be seen on the street laden with veg- 
etables. The truck garden industry has developed 
more in the past five years than any other factor in the 
advancement of our people, and it is worthy of note 
that our local gardeners have depended solely on home 
patronage. In a little while arrangements with the 
railroads will be made for regular transportation of veg- 
etables and then the truck gardeners will be able to 
rely upon a regular market. 

FRLIT. 

A good variety of domestic and wild fruits is found; 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



apples, peaches, pears, figs, cherries, plums and the 
several berries. Wild cherries, plums and grapes are 
in abundance. Of apples, early varieties do best; of 
peaches, the medium and late; of plums, wild goose and 
other native plums; of the berries, strawberries and 
blackberries are best, and requiring little cultivation 
grow abundantly. At the New Orleans International 
E.'iposition, held 1885, and at the California Exposition, 
held 1SS7, at San Francisco, Arkansas apples and other 
fruit took the first prize. 

GRAPES. 

In the estimation of practical fruit growers the soil 
and climate of Jefferson County are especially suited to 



Chickens, per doz S2.00 to S3. 00 

Eggs, " " lo to .15 

Butter, per lb ig to .25 

Fresh beef, in market, per lb oS to .10 

mutton, " " 08 to .10 

pork, '■ " ,05 to .10 

venison, " " oS to .10 

Other articles of merchandise are governed in price 
by the general standard. 

The facilities for shipping to northern markets berries, 
melons, vegetables and farm products in general are 
very good, while the home market is rapidly growing 
into significant proportions. 




WEST FROM LAUREL. 



grape culture. The vines of the wild grape are usually 
large and luxuriant. Here flourishes the Muscadine, 
from whose vintage farmers' wives annually make wine. 
The following varieties are at present successfully cul- 



tivated: Scuppernong, Ives' Seedling, Norton, Va., 
Concord and Cynthiana. Several successful vineyards, 
large and small, are to be found in the county. 

MARKET PRICE OF PRODUCTS. 

Having now dealt somewhat in field, garden and 
forest products, we append a list of country products, 
as it may prove a great assistance in computing both 
the family expenses and the resources to be relied on 
to meet them. We give the present marketable price 
at Pine Bluff of the articles named, as revised by lead- 
ing merchants of Pine Biufi. 



STOCK RAISING. 

The luxuriant vegetation of natural and artificial 
grasses affords excellent grazing for horses, cattle and 
sheep. Cane, which thrives in low lands, affords the 
year round a nutritious food for stock. The Jersey and 
Holstein breeds of cattle have been successfully intro- 
duced for dairy purposes. So far, we have not many 
regularly established stock farms, but the business is 
beginning to develop. The mildness of the climate 
saves the great expense of costly stables, which fall so 
heavily upon farmers in the North and East. At the 
same time, stables sufficient to protect against the rain 
and the spells of comparatively cold weather are not to 
be dispensed with by wise farmers. Hog raising is also 
a lucrative business. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



toS 


150 


00 


to 


150 


00 


to 


25 


00 


to 


10 


00 


to 


50 


00 


to 


10 


00 



PRICE OF STOCK. 

Horses S60 00 

Work mules 60 00 

Three-year-old steers 20 00 

Yearlings 5 00 

Milch cows 15 00 

Hogs on foot 3 00 

GAME AND FISH. 

Wild turkey, deer, duck, geese, and many kinds of 
small game are found; occasionally bear is met with. 

In the numerous small lakes, game fish is found; in 
the Arkansas river catfish, drum and buffalo are abun- 
dant, and easily caught. 



(commonly called prairie chicken) for five years from 
1893, or any quail (sometimes called Virginia partridge) 
between the first day of March and first day of October 
of any year. 

Sec. 2. It shall be unlawful at any and all seasons 
of the year, to take, catch or kill by means of a net, 
traps • « » any of the above mentioned game; 
provided that nothing in this section shall be construed 
to prohibit any persons or minors of any person from 
netting, trapping * * * on their own premises in 
the unprohibited season, or when any of the birds 
aforesaid are in the act of destroying fruit or grapes. 

Sec. 3. It shall be unlawful to destroy, disturb or 




HOTEL TRULOCK 



G.-\ME .\ND FISH LAWS OF THE STATE OF 
ARKANSAS. 

GAME LAW. 
Sec. I. It shall be unlawful to catch, kill, injure or 
pursue, with intent to catch, kill or injure, or pursue or 
chase with dogs without such intent, any wild buck, doe 
or fawn in this Stale, between the first day of February 
and the first day of September of any year; and it shall 
also be unlawful to catch » » * any wild turkey, 
between the first day of May and the first day of Sep- 
tember of any year; » * * any pinnated grouse 



rob the nest of any wild birds whatsoever, except those 
of crows, blackbirds, hawks, owls and birds of prey. 

Sec. 4. It shall be unlawful for any person to pur- 
chase, have in possession, or expose for sale any of the 
above game in the prohibited season. 

Sec. 5. It shall be unlawful for any railroad com- 
pany, * * * or corporation, or private person to 
have in possession or receive for transportation, or for 
any other purpose whatsoever, any of the game men- 
tioned above in the prohibited season. 

Sec. 6. Any person violating any of the provisions 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, 
and shall be fined (as provided) from $3 to $20. 

FISH LAW. 

Sec I. No person shall erect * * * in any of 
the waters of this State, or in the front of the mouth of 
any stream, slough or bayou, any seine, net * * * 
any fish trap or dam * * * to catch any fish. 

Provided. That the prohibitions of this section shall 



State, to catch fish for family use, or for picnics, and 
not for sale; nor shall it be unlawful for any person or 
persons to place traps in the unnavigable streams of 
this State, provided such traps do not obstruct the free 
passage of fish in ascending or descending such streams; 
nor shall it be unlawful to use a seine, net or gill net, 
in any of the navigable streams of this State, provided 
the meshes of such seine * * * be not less than 




SCHOOL (white). 



not apply to waters wholly on the premises belonging 
to such person or persons using such devices. 

Froz'tdcd further. That it may be lawful to use a 
very small seine, not to exceed in length 15 feet, for 
catching very small fish ■■ * * for bait or for stock- 
ing other waters. 

Provided further, That it shall not be unlawful for 
any person or persons to use a seine, not exceeding 60 
feet in length in any unnavigable stream or lake in this 



thr^e inches in size, and that such net * * * does 
not obstruct the outlet or inlet of any lake or stream 
emptying into any other lake or stream. But it shall 
not be lawful to transport any fish outside of the State, 
except catfish and buffalo. 

Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of 
this act shall on conviction be deemed guilty of a mis- 
demeanor, and shall be fined in any sum not less than 
$5 nor more than S200. 



10 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. ARK. 



TIMBER. 

The lumber producing trees are cypress, yellow pine, 
oak of many kinds, ash, pecan, sycamore, gum and bois 
d'arc (bodark). 

Trees useful domestically are elm, cedar, hickory, 
mulberry, cottonwood, beech and sugar maple. The 
large forests of those timbers deserve serious considera- 
tion in making up the advantages of Jefferson County 
for settlements. Maine, Minnesota and Wisconsin 
have drawn to their people large fortunes from trade 
in merely two kinds of lumber— white pine and hem- 
lock or spruce pine. Our yellow pine is superior to 
either in quantity and quality. It is susceptible of a 



wood, furnishes excellent material for tanning. The 
hard woods in the county have been estimated at 
2,500,000,000 feet board measure, of which one-fourth 
is pine and the rest satinwood, oak, ash, hickory, 
cypress and cottonwood. There are twenty-seven mills 
in the county, with a daily capacity of 340,000 feet, and 
seven planing mills with a capacity of 140.000. 

The annual cut of all the mills in the county is given 
at 100,000,000. The lumber trade has at times reached 
so great proportions that it was impossible for the 
railroads to supply cars sufficient for transportation. 

PRICES OF LUMBER. 

Yellow Pine, green, per 1000 feet $8. 50 




ANNUNCIATION 



(SISTERS OF CHARITY). 



much finer polish for furniture and interior decora- 
tions. A finish in oil is often all that is needed, while 
its great hardness and strength make it first-class ma- 
terial for flooring, ship-building and general frame 
work. 

For various mechanical purposes, such as the manu- 
facture of wagons, carriages, plows and barrels, there 
is to be found a large and convenient supply of white 
oak, hickory, ash, pecan and bois d'arc. 

Walnut deserves separate mention for its plentiful- 
ness and singular beauty, comparing favorably with 
mahogany and rosewood. 

Black oak, called also dyers' oak, with other dyers' 



Yellow Pine, dry, per 1000 feet 

Cypress, per 1000 feet 

Walnut, 

White Oak, 

Ash, ■ ..................,,][ 

Oak, Ash and Hickory wood, by the cord, deliv'd, 
Brick, per single 1000, delivered in Pine Bluff. 

MANUFACTORIES. 

The openings for manufactories are numerous. Wood- 
working, furniture, hub and spoke factories; shingle 
and saw mills; wagon and carriage factories; not to 
mention cotton factories, which when properly organ- 
ized and worked would well repay an investment. The 



13.00 
30.00 
15.00 
15.00 
2.25 
9.00 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



year round navigation of the Arkansas River, and the of 650 barrels of bolted meal and coresponding quanti- 

numerous railways afford facilities for transportation. ties of chops, etc. 

N'jw enterprises meet with the approval of, and receive Riggins' Planing Mills; makes shingles, doors, win- 
material assistance from, local capitalists. Nothing dews, mouldings, brackets, counters, shelving for drug 



■0 1" I (>"i "^ 




now is so much needed as the establishment of manu- 
factories. 

The following are some of the factories now success- 
fully established: 

Pine Bluff Mill and Elevator Co.; has a daily capacity 



stores and bars. Deals in all kinds of rough and 
dressed lumber. 

Bluff City Lumber Co., of which an engraving and 
description appears elsewhere. 

The St. Louis Stave and Lumber Co. are operating a 



JKFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



large plant in western suburbs of town, with a weekly 
capacity of 75,000 staves of oak, cypress and heading. 
New machinery, increasing the capacity, is being con- 
stantly added. They find the timber here to be the 
best of the many plants in the Southwest. 

Emma Oil Mill, which ships immense quantities of 
cottonseed oil, meal, cake, hulls and potash. 

Dilley's Foundry, of which an engraving and notice 
appears on another page. 

Ice factory and two large cotton compresses. 

Public steam cotton gin, with all modern improve- 
ments, and a capacity of 50 bales of cotton per day. 



EDUCATION. 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

This county, as all in the State, is fairly provided for 
in the way of schools, both free and paid. White and 
colored pupils are, in accordance with law, taught in 
separate schools. Both white and colored free schools 
have a normal department, the former at the State 
University, Washington County; the latter in Pine Bluff 
There are 35 school districts in the county, having from 
three to ten free schools each during the year. In Pine 
Bluff there are graded public schools employing 21 
teachers. In the county the free schools have an aver- 




There are several other smaller plants-cigar, broom, 
carriage, wagon, etc. 

MINERALS. 

An inexhaustible quantity of marl is found on the 
Arkansas River in the northern part of the county, 
which has never been developed. The beds are on the 
river bank and it could readily be transported to market 
in barges. The vein or bed of the marl runs in a south- 
westerly direction and crops out on the surface in many 
places. The L. R.. M. R. & T. Railway crosses one 
part of the vein. Coal and other minerals in small 
quantities have been found here and there, but no 
special notice has been taken cf them 



age session of four months; in Pine Bluff they are kept 
open nine months. Provision is made in the constitu- 
tion of the State for the support of the public schools, 
requiring an annual ta.v of 20 cents upon each Siooof 
taxable property, in addition to a per capita or poll tax 
of Si upon each adult male citizen. In addition to the 
State tax each school district may by vote levy a tax not 
to exceed 50 cents upon the Si 00 for school purposes. 
In 1S92 the revenue of Jefferson County for school pur- 
poses was $50,000. of which Si6,ooo was expended in 
the Pine Bluff district. There are 150 public school 
teachers in the county, receiving an average salary, in 
Pine Bluff, of S750. in the county of S190, about the 



JEFFERSON COUNTY ARK. 



same rate, time considered. Of the S50.000 raised for 
support of schools, about $40,000 are collected from 
white citizens. 

For State common school laws, see Mansfield's Digest. 
Sees. 6120-1-2. 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

There is a large number of private schools through- 
out the county. In Pine Fluff the Sisters of Charity of 
Nazareth have a large and handsome academy with an 
enrollment of 250 pupils. Prof. Jordan's successful 
Academy for boys has 75 pupils. There are other 
smaller schools. 

CHURCHES. 

All religious denominations are alike welcomed, and 



as a part of the St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas Railroad, 
from Little Rock to Altheimer, a distance of 30 miles. 
It is surrounded by a fine farming region. It is named 
after Joseph and Louis Altheimer, two of Pine Bluff's 
best citizens. The shipment of cotton in the season of 
1892 was 8,000 bales. 

REDFIELD. 

Redfield, a town on the L. R., M, R. & T. Railway 
(M. P.), 25 miles west of Pine Blufi, has 1000 inhabi- 
tants and is rapidly growing. As it is distant only four 
miles from the river, its trade extends to the large river 
plantations, while it commands from the hilly country 
on the south a considerable mercantile business. The 
saw and planing mills tributary to it form a large and 




EKLO. 



the members of all have ample opportunities of exem- 
plifying in their conduct the maxims which guide their 
life. There are about 75 churches, large and small, in 
the county — Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Epis- 
copal, Presbyterian, and one Hebrew Synagogue in 
Pine Bluff. The colored people are chiefly Baptists 
and Methodists; the whites are about evenly divided 
among the above-named churches. 

TOWNS .A.ND RAILROAD ST.\TIONS 

ALTHEI.MER. 

.-Utheimer, a town seven years old, with a population 
of 500, is situated north of the Arkansas River, 12 miles 
from Pine Bluff, on the main line of the St. Louis, Ark- 
ansas & Texas Railroad. It is also the terminus of the 
Little Rock & Eastern Railroad, extending at present 



lucrative industry. 

DEXTER STATION AND JEFFERSON SPRINGS 

Station are rising towns. The former is 10 miles from 
Pine Bluff and the latter 17, and both are situated on 
the L. R.. M. R.-&T. Railway (M. P.). They are 
chiefly dependent upon the lumber business. 

Linwood, 13 miles east of Pine Bluff, is a station on 
the L. R., M. R. & T. Railway, and is regarded as 
worthy of notice on account of its shipment of cotton 
and of the fertile plantations near by. Adjacent to it 
lie large forests of oak, ash, cypress and other merchant- 
able woods. 

Toronto is 18 miles east of Pine Bluff on the L. R , 
M. R. & T. Ry. It is surrounded by fine farming lands 
with large areas under cultivation. The rich Bayou 
Bartholomew country is tributary to it, which, besides 



14 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. ARK. 



its cultivated farms, possesses extensive forests of cy- 
press, oak, hickory and walnut. Staves and ship tim- 
ber are sent in large quantities from this region to 
European markets. 

There are other stations on the several railroads and 
many landings on the Arkansas of more or less import- 
ance, but which it is scarcely necessary to particularize 
in a work of this kind. 

CITIES. 

I'ine Bluff is the only city in the county. It is one of 
the three principal trade centers of the Valley of the 
Arkansas Kiver, the other two being Little Rock and 
Fort Smith. It has a population of 12,000. and is rap- 
idly growing. It differs from many cities of the State, 



diverted at the extremes to other cities, is fairly within 
the reach of Pine Blufi. 

The amount of cotton handled by Pine Bluff mer- 
chants for the year ending September j, 1892. is given 
at 100,000 bales, worth $4,000,000. 

The growth of the city has been rapid for the past 
seven years. The St. Louis South-Western Ry. has its 
general machine shops here, and disburses annually for 
station serv'ce the sum of SySo.ooo. Its works are 
being enlarged, so that a much larger force of workmen 
will soon be employed. The development of the up- 
lands and bottom lands tributary to the city :s another 
source of growth to it; while the universal feeling of 
confidence in its future prosperity has called into action 




-^:s^-' 






^"^^^^^ 



^r\. 



BERRY AND VEGETABLE FARM 



T. SIMPSON. 



in commanding a larger area of trade than is common. 
It is estimated that one-third of the commerce of the 
alluvial delta of the State is controlled by citizens of 
Pine Bluff. In ascending the Arkansas River it may 
be said to be the dividing limit of the upland and low- 
land country. Citizens of Pine Bluff own 206,420 acres 
of the farm lands of the county, and receive a rental of 
over $500,000. The timber distribution controlled by 
the city is difficult to estimate; the number of saw 
mills on the St. L. S. W. Ry. tributary to it is 80. 
with a daily cut of a million feet. The number of saw 
mills on the Valley Route, known also as the L. R., M. 
R. & T. Ry. is 20, with a daily cut of 300,000 feet. The 
product of these mills, chiefly pine lumber, though 



many hitherto latent powers. 

The town of Pine Bluff, having been surveyed by John 
E. Graham, was incorporated in 1S36, and embraced 
only 45 blocks. The area of the city is now one and 
three-quarter miles wide by two and one-half miles 
long, and embraces 2.600 acres of land. 

CHURCHES IN PINE BLLFF. 

Six/h .Ivfiiue £aptisl. 

Seating capacity of church ii>o 

Adult membership 1 35 

Annual revenue for all purposes 81,500.00 

Value of church property 5,000.00 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



SL Joseph's Catholic. 

Seating capacity of church 500 

Adult membership 300 

Annual revenue for all purposes $ 1,500.00 

Value of church property 12,000.00 

(Exclusive of Annunciation Academy, value about 
Sio,ooo.) 

Trinity Efiscoful. 

Seating capacity of church 450 

Adult membership 300 

Annual revenue, for all purposes S 1,700.00 

Value of church property 15,000.00 

Lakeside Methodist. 

Seating capacity 400 

Adult membership 160 

Annual revenue S 1,200.00 

Value of church property 10,000.00 

First Methodist Episcopal South. 

Seating capacity of church 700 

Adult membership 350 

Annual revenue, for all purposes $ 3,500.00 

Value of church property 30,000.00 

First Presbyterian. 

Seating capacity of church 400 

.\dult membership 300 

.\nnual revenue, for all purposes S 2.500.00 

Value of church property 15,000.00 

Second Presbyterian — East Second .-liv. 

Seating capacity of church 200 

Adult membership 50 

Annual revenue $ 500. 00 

Value of property 3,000.00 

.-Jnshe Emeth Congregation. 

Seating capacity of synagogue 250 

Contributing members 50 

Annual revenue, for all purposes $ 3,000.00 

Value of church property 10,000 00 

CHURCHES OF COLORED PEOPLE 

In Jetferson County there are about sixty colored 
churches: Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic 
and Christian or Campbellite. In the city of Pine Bluff 
there are eight colored churches. 

St. Paul Baptist Church. 

A brick edifice, cost about fifteen thousand dollars: 

Seating capacity 1,000 

Membership 900 

Annual revenue $ 1,800.00 

Value of property 15.000.00 

Barrague Street Baptist Church. 

Seating capacity 5oo 

Membership 200 

Annual revenue, for all purposes Si, 000.00 

Value of property 900. 00 

St. John A. M. E. Church. 

Seating capacity 800 

Membership 300 

Annual revenue, for all purposes 81,500.00 

Value of church property 3,000.00 



First Baptist. 

Seating capacity 600 

Membership 400 

Annual revenue, for all purposes Si, 000 

Value of church property i.ooo 

.5-/. James ^f. E. Church, Xorth. 

Seating capacity 500 

Membership 200 

.Vnnual revenue, for all purposes Si. 500. 00 

Value of church property 3.000.00 

Presbyterian Church 

Seating capacity 600 

Membership 100 

Annual revenue, for all purposes Si, 000.00 

Value of church property 2,000.00 

Strangers'' Pest Baptist Church. 

Seating capacity 300 

Membership 150 

.\nnual revenue S400.00 

Value of church property Soo.oo 

Taylor's Chapel, Baptist Church, 
Five miles south of the city, the finest colored church 
outside of city. Rev. J. C. Battle, pastor. 

Seating capacity 800 

Membership 220 

Annual revenue S 900.00 

Cost of construction 2.000.00 

Value of property . . ., 3,000.00 

Catholic Church. 
Is not yet built — ground has been secured and a con- 
gregation is being formed. At present the members 
worship in St. Joseph's church. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS — (WHITESt. 

City High School. 

Annual enrollment 1892-3 350 

Teachers employed 7 

Value of property $20,000.00 

Pine Street School. 

Annual enrollment 225 

Teachers employed 4 

Value of property S8,ooc.oo 

East Second Ai'e. School. 

Annual enrollment, 1892-3 200 

Teachers employed 4 

Value of property 53,000.00 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS — (COLORED). 

Slate Normal School. 

Enrollment, 1892-3 160 

Salaried teachers employed 4 

Value of property S2o,ooo.oo 

Ptdlen Street or Merrill School. 

Annual enrollment, 1892-3 300 

Teachers employed 6 

Value of property S12, 000.00 

Missouri Street School. 

,\nnual enrollment, 1892-3 225 

Teachers employed 4 

Value of property S2,ooo.oo. 




JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



*^ ! I H I r 







aa.s^.l 



FTH AVtNUK BAPTIST CHURCH 




<<. i^-- /l^*" 



t 'f " !S ii! ?! '*''°^- 

I iii S| ill , 

. '- * If,, 




; ATHOLIC { HI 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



17 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS — (WHITE). 

Aniiuiicia/ioti Academy, by Sisters of Charity of 
Nazareth. 

Annual enrollment, 1892-3 250 

Teachers employed 8 

Value o£ property Sio, 000.00 

Prof. Jordan's Academy. 

Annual enrollment, 1892-3 75 

Teachers employed 2 

Value of property 83,000.00 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS — (COLORED). 

Prof. A. B. Crump's School. 

Enrollment, 1892-3 50 

Teachers employed 2 



2.000 cars various m'dse 67.910,889 lbs. 

12,000 bales cotton 5.530,432 lbs. 

Business forivarded. 

200 cars lumber 5.530.432 ft. 

1,612 cars various m'dse 33.435.ili2 lbs. 

24.000 bales cotton ii.777.543 lbs. 

The Pine Bluff &- Eastern Railroad 
This road has at present only 30 miles of road built, 
but passes through a rich cotton region and handles a 
large amount of freight, chiefly cotton and cotton-seed, 
though merchandise and plantation supplies are also 
shipped. It connects with the St. Louis Southwestern 
Railway, eight miles from Pine Bluff, and has facilities 
for through freight. The amount of gross earnings are 




RESIDENCE OF CHARLES TRIPLETT 



Richard Allen Institute (Presbyterian). 

Enrollment, 1S92-3 250 

Teachers employed 8 

Value of property $12,000.00 

Colored Industrial Institute (Catholic). 

Enrollment, 1892-3 240 

Teachers (Sisters of Charity) 4 

Value of property $7,000.00 

TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS. 

Estimated business done at Pine Bluff by the St. 
Louis Southwestern Railway, during the year ending 
June 1st, 1893: 

Business received. 
800 cars lumber 20.369,515 ft. 



about 530,000 

Mi.-.souri Pacific R. R.— freights forivarded Past u 
Months. 

Lumber 720 cars. 

Live stock 1 50 

Mdse., grain, hay, meal, meat, flour, etc. .. . 2,450 " 

Cotton bales per season, Sept. to Sept 40, 000 bales. 

Tonnage on above: 

Lumber 27,600,000 lbs. 

Live stock 3,300,000 " 

Mdse., grain, hay, meal, meat, flour, etc. 54,600.000 ■' 
Cotton bales 20,000,000 " 

Total tonnage 105,500,000 lbs. 



18 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 




ST. JOHNS A. M. E. (COLORED). 



ST. PAULS BAPTIST CHURCH (COLORED). 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



19 



Freights Received Fast 12 Afonllis. 

Lumber Ooo cars. 

Live stock 156 

Mdse., grain, meal, meat, vegetables, sugar, 

molasses, etc 3.050 

Cotton in bales per season, Sept. to Sept. . 15,000 bales. 
Tonnage on above: 

Lumber 24,000.000 lbs. 

Livestock 3,432,000 " 

Mdse., grain, meal, meat, vegetables, 

sugar, molasses, etc 73,203,000 " 

Cotton in bales per season, Sept. to Sept. 6,510,000 " 



Total tonnage 107,145,000 lbs 

Passenger traffic per annum S5. 900.0c 

Jrka)isas Rii'er Facket Compa7iy. 

This company is one of the oldest steamboat lines ir 
the South. Boats run 
twice a week in the busy 
seasons and once a week 
the year round. Pine Bluff 
river competition makes it 
the most desirable city in 
the State in a "freight 
way." 

It is not possible to es- 
timate the carrying trade 
of this company and other 
independent lines, but the 
tributary trade to Pine 
Bluff and the commerce 
of the distance are con- 
siderable. 

BROKERS. 

There are a consider- 
able number of brokers 
among our real estate 
men. Some use their own 
capital, while others, act- 
ing as agents, handle the 
money of others. The 
rate on loans is generally 
8 to 10 per cent. Build- 
ing and Loan Associations HIGH >. liiiiJI 
are also in existence, two 
being local and six foreign. 

BANKS. 

Merchants and Planters — Organized 1S76; amount of 
capital, $100,000; surplus, $28,000. Present officers — 
V. D. Wilkins, Pres't; H. H. Hunn, Vice Pres't; F. H. 
Head, Cashier. 

Citizens Bank^Organized Feb. loth, 1S87; amount 
of capital, $100,000; surplus, $60,000. Present officers 
—J. B. Speers, Pres't; John Roth, Vice Pres't: H. 
Riley, Cashier. 

The Bank of Pine Bluff— Organized 18S9; capital 
paid in, $150,000; surplus, $25,000. Present officers — 
Isaac Dreyfus, Pres't; R. G. Atkinson, First Vice Pres't; 
Chas. Benj. Wilkinson, Second Vice Pres't; \V. D. 
Hearn, Cashier. 

HOTELS. 



ber of houses worthy of the name of hotel, and a more 
than usual proportion of private boarding houses. The 
Hotel Trulock is the largest and best equipped. The 
hotel, conducted on the European style by Messrs. 
Parker & O'Keefe, is popular with the traveling public 
and is convenient to the depots. The Tremont House 
manager receives a good general patronage. The Blu- 
thenthal House, though German in style, is well liked 
by all. The Gallagher House, Wright House, South- 
ern Hotel, and many others, are well arranged for the 
comfort of guests. A grand new hotel is now in course 
of construction. 

INSL'RANCE. 

The business men of this city appreciating the value 

of reliable insurance have, the present year, 1893, taken 

fire risks to the amount of 

$4,400,000. 

Parker & Co. . .82,000,000 

Bell&Tait 1.200,000 

R. H, M. Mills. 1,200,000 
The companies repre- 
sented are both home and 
foreign. Life insurance 
in commercial companies 
and benevolent societies 
aggregates a very large 




There are sev 



pron 



hotels, besides 



RAILWAYS. 

The Citizens Street Rail- 
way, capitalized at $200,- 
000, has a length of 12 '2 
miles and is equipped 
with cars and mules nec- 
essary for the present pub- 
lic demand. Electric cars 
will in time be substituted. 
The line is owned and 
operated by Mr. Wiley 
Jones, a wealthy colored 



TELEPHONE. 

iiNE I.LI KF The Southwestern Tele- 

graph and Telephone 
Company operates a local and long distance telephone. 
The local has two hundred subscribers. The long dis- 
tance telephone includes Little Rock, Fort Smith, Tex- 
arkana, Memphis, and St. Louis. 

TELEGRAPH. 

The Western Union has unlimited facilities for han- 
dling telegraphic news promply and its capacity is one 
of the largest in the State on account of quadruplex 
instruments used in relaying business from interior 
of Arkansas and Texas. 

SEWERAGE. 

A fine system of sewerage interlaces the ground in 
the business and principal residence portions of the 
city. The main pipes are 18 inches in diameter with 
lateral pipes of corresponding size. There are 36 flush 
tanks of 130 gallons capacity, which are fed from the 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 




JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



21 




LOVIS :,OUTII\VESTEKN KAILWAV 



22 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



city water works and which supply water into the sewer 
pipes at regular intervals. The natural depressions in 
the surface of the ground afiord easy outlets to the 
Arkansas river. 

WATER WORKS. 

Tht water works were erected and mains laid in iSSS. 
The mains are 14 and 18 inches, and extend throughout 
the city. There are 1S6 fire plugs of the most approved 
pattern. The first pumps proving inadequate, in Sep- 
tember 1892 two new Gordon steam pumps of two mil- 
lion gallons capacity each daily were completed. The 



capacity for a city of more than twenty thousand inhab- 
itants. 

THE COMPRESS, 

There is one compress. Standard Compress Company 
The building is a brick structure 240 x 360 feet, has 
storage room tor about 15.000 bales of cotton and com- 
presses sixty bales an hour 

The Emma Oil Mill employs seventy-five bands and 
has a capacity for eighty tons of cottonseed a day. Ii 
is a brick structure. 

The Pine Blufi Mill and Elevator Company. The 




city has now an unsurpassed water works system and 
fire protection. The property is owned by the Pine 
Bluff Water and Light Company. The water has been 
analyzed by Prof. Potter, of Washington University, 
St. Louis, and he declared it to be "most excellent." 

LIGHT. 

The Pine Blug Water and Light Company also own 
and operates the electric light system and gas works. 
The electric light is 1,500 incandescent and 100 arc 
light. On some streets the electric light is supplemented 
by gas light. The electric light and gas works have 



mills have a daily capacity of 650 barrels of kiln dried 
bolted corn meal, besides 50,000 lbs. of chops. Corn 
is purchased at various points and orders for meal from 
distant points filled. 

NEWSP.'VPERS. 

There are four weekly and one daily paper published 
in Pine Bluff: Fiiu- Bluff Weekly Commercial, C. G. 
Newman, editor and proprietor; /'iiie Bluff Press- 
Eagle, Arthur Murray, editor and proprietor; Pine 
Bluff Graphic, J. W. Adams, editor and proprietor; 
Pine Bluff Echo, J. C. Dukes, editor and proprietor; 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



Pine Bluff Daily Commercial, C. G. Newman, editot 
and proprietor. The Commej-cial, Press-Eagle 
and Crafhic are Democratic, the Echo, Republican. 
All the papers are well conducted and well patronized, 
and would furnish much information to expectant 
visitors. 

ICE FACTORY. 

Ice of the best and purest quality is manufactured 
from distilled water by the Arkansas and Texas Consol- 
idated Ice and Coal Company. The machine tor the 
manufacture of ice was erected in 1SS4, with a capacity 
of five tons per day. In the winter of 18SS, another of 



The Arkansas Valley Railway, at present 1 part of 
the Missouri Pacific system, and a part of a trunk line 
extending from Fort Scott, Kansas, through the Indian 
Territory, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana to New- 
Orleans, passes through Pine Bluff. At Little Rock, 
only 42 miles distant, connection is made with trains 
for all points. The St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas 
Railway, connecting at Cairo, 111., with all points, and 
extending from Cairo in a southwesterly direction to 
the center of Texas, also passes through Pine Bluff and 
affords the people of the city and country the greatest 
convenience for travel and traffic. The Pine Bluff & 



^\ i^' 





BLUFF MILL AND ELEVATOR COMPANY. 



twenty tons was placed in position for work. The com- 
pany keeps Pittsburg and other coal on hand, for use 
and for sale, and will enlarge the facilities of their busi- 
ness. 

COMMUNICATION. 

The communications of Pine Bluff and of the whole 
county are considered to be very good. As it is situated 
on the Arkansas River not more than 100 miles from the 
Mississippi, there is a good stage of water the year 
round, and steamboats are plying to and fro. A pon- 
toon bridge crosses the Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and six 
miles south of the city at Rob Roy station the river is 
spanned by a magnificent iron railroad bridge for the 
ufe of the St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad. 



Eastern Railroad, a portion of which is built, and which 
is to extend from St. Charles on White River, through 
Pine Bluff to Monroe, La., passes through a rich and 
well timbered country, and provides a welcome outlet. 
The Altheimer branch of the St. L., Ark. & T. Railway, 
extending a distance of 30 miles from Altheimer, Jeffer- 
son County, to Little Rock. Pulaski County, is also 
worthy of notice. Daily trains run by this route from 
Pine Bluff to Little Rock. It is scarcely proper here to 
speak of projected railroads, as we are now dealing 
with facts; but the road from Pine Bluff to Malvern, to 
connect with the Hot Springs Railroad, is looked upon 
as one of the certainties of the near future. 



24 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



FREIGHTS. 

Freight comes by steanboat and by railroad. Pine 
Blufi and Little Rock, owing to railway and waterway 
competition, are accorded the cheapest rates of any 
cities in the State, and the rates are about the same to 
both places, being quite low on all classes of freight. 
POST-OFFICES. 

The county has 34 post-ofiSces. The Pine Bluff office 
is second class with free delivery, having five clerks 
and four carriers. In this office in 1892, money orders 
handled amounted to Sioo,88o; postal notes handled 
amounted to 86,oS6; registered parcels, 818,377. Miss 
Emma Clayton, a graduate of Annunciation Academy, 



District school tax, 1892, 5 mills; constitutional limit, 5 
mills on the dollar. 
The actual taxes of 1892 were as follows: 
Outside corporate limits, $1.60 on the Sioo. 
InsiJe corporate limits. 50 cts. additional on the Sioo. 

COUNTY DEBT, 1892. 
Railroad bonds, $73,000. 

FARMS. 

In buying farms, less than 40 acres nor more than 
160 is not recommended to new settlers, and the price had 
better be calculated as medium, which gives a better 
choice. Supposing, now, a person coming to Jefferson 
County decides to purchase an upland farm of 80 acres. 




RESIDENXE OF 



JOH 



LUFF. 



and daughter of Jno. M. Clayton, deceased, has been 
postmistress under the Harrison administration. 

FINANCES. 

The assessment books of 1892 give Jefferson County. 

Personal property 52,252.350.00 

Real estate 4,529,410.00 

Total valuation 56,781,760.00 

State tax, 1892, 5 mills; constitutional limit. 10 mills on 

the dollar. 
County tax, 1892, 5 mills- constitutional limit, 5 mills 

on the dollar. 
City tax, 1892, 5 mills; constitutional limit, 5 mills on 

the dollar. 



40 being in cultivation and 40 in timber. The improve 
ments of house, fence, and stabling are merely ordinary 
and it lies five miles from Pine Bluff. 

The 80 acres thus described would ordinarily cos 
$400. The payments would be $100 cash; Sioo in one, 
two and three years. Less or more than 80 acres may 
be computed from this example, bearing in mind thai 
the amount and quality of improvements cause corre 
spending variation in value. 

Bottom lands, other things being equal, may be con- 
sidered at double these estimates. 

FARM LANDS. 

Where unimproved land which has never been culti- 



jp:fferson county, ark. 



vated is in question, the price per acre may be fixed at 
S3. Yellow pine and cypress lumber sell at the mill for 
S7 a thousand feet. This county being a pine and 
cypress region, mills are convenient to almost all parts. 
A comfortable house could therefore be put up at the 
small outlay of S160, which would suit the majority of 
families. This course is, in general, very advisable, as 
it enables each family to have a home somewhat after 
their own notions. 



utensils. With $200 he could easily supply his tami'y 
with provisions till the crop will have matured; and 
soon a vegetable garden would spring up, a cow, hogs 
and fowls accumulate around him. 

HOMES. 

The noblest ambition which should animate the 
breast of any man is to acquire a home — that sacred 
refuge of peace and happiness to which the memory 
may ever fonrllv return. This furnishes a key to the 




COTTON COMPRESS OF THE STANDARD COMPRESS AND WAREHOUSE CO., PINE BLUFF 



As in the last case we shall here make a supposition 
of a case that might easily occur. A man selects for 
a farm 40 acres of unimproved upland. The price is $3 
an acre or $120 in full. The payments are $40 in cash, 
S40 in one and two years. Thus, for the small sum of 
S200, $160 being full payment for the house, and $40 
part payment on the land, he could have the dearest of 
of all earthly objects — a home At first it might indeed 
be homely, but taste and labor would gradually trans- 
form it into a most welcome abode. With $100 that 
man could procure a horse, plow and other necessary 



unhappiness and impoverishment of so many families 
in the over-crowded districts of the Eastern States. 
There is for them no prospect of a home- -let them 
labor ever so hard and every member economize e%'er 
so much. It is continous living from hand to mouth. 

There may be a little money in the bank awaiting the 
first sickness or out-of-work time. Year by year rent is 
to pay, provisions to buy, the family to clothe, and 
countless dragging expenses to meet. Pleasures of one 
kind or another may fall in their way, but the father 
and mother cannot help becoming despondent when 



26 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



they look upon their own gray hairs and their forms 
stooping to the grave, with no other prospect before 
their sons and daughters than the lives of drudgery and 
servile obedience that had troubled their own. No 
wonder such people are discouraged, and a tone of com- 
plaint and misgiving marks their utterance. 

Many times they must have thought, how different 
would all this be had they followed the advice of some 
good friend in years gone by and traveled out to the 
South or West, where many of their former neighbors 
are situated in prosperity, if not wealth, and what is 
worth still more — a home. 

This is what Jefferson Counly offers in an especial 



county is owned and conducted by a colored man, J. C. 
Dukes. The two street car lines consolidated, of Pine 
Bluff, with a handsome park and race course, are owned 
by Wiley Jones, a colored man, born in 1S48 and sold 
as a slave in 1858, who has made a fortune of $200,000 
within the past twenty years. Many colored men hold 
important and lucrative offices, and many are respect- 
able farmers. The best of feeling prevails. While the 
great body of the colored people still adhere to the Repub- 
lican party, they now do so more intelligently than 
formerly. Some act with Democratic party. Their 
best friends in both parties rejoice over their advance- 
ment in intelligence and independence and regard it as 







^1^ ^.iJi Mi 



,„,,,,^ „„„, TiPtinniiini '^ "^ 

W#'»fflliil1ffliiill|i||'''U[S[ltl'if': __ H,^ 




-homes — homes to all whose industry and in- 
tegrity will perpetuate them among their descendants. 
There is room here for 10,000 families and a home for 
every one of them. 

POSITION OF THE COLORED PEOPLE. 

The condition of the colored people has, in the past 
few years, undergone great changes in the respects 
which have important bearings upon their relations to 
the whites. The educational facilities of the colored 
people in Jefferson County are better than those which 
the whites possess. Their churches, though not costly 
buildings, are commodious, convenient and numerous. 
They are very rapidly acquiring homes and accumu- 
lating property. The only Republican paper in the 



a bright augury of the future. 

AVERSION OF LARGE PLANTERS. 

The impression is unfounded that the large planters 
and Other leading men are so much identified with 
colored labor and vast plantations as to be indifferent, 
if not averse, to poor men settling near them upon 
farms small in size. Self interest requires them to take 
the opposite course, if they had not been impelled to it 
by natural kindness of heart, which has ever been a 
characteristic of the Southern people. Small farmers, 
those cultivating 20 or 40 acres of land, are just what 
is considered by all classes to be the one thing needed 
to bring forth the hidden wealth of the county. Were 
the population of Jefferson County quadrupled, and 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



27 



small farms dotted thickly over it, the hitherto rejected 
belts of land along the marshy swamps would be re- 
claimed by systematic drainage, and the malarial vapors 
neutralized by groves of eucalyptus and other disinfect- 
ing processes. At the same time it is not advisable for 
new-comers to settle in the river bottoms. They should 
select the uplands or the creek bottoms, and await the 
time when the advance of railroads and the other pro- 
cesses which changed the Illinois swamps of 50 years 
ago into the healthful dwelling places of the present 
time, will have here effected similar results. 



a bounden duty to decry us in the eyes of the world, in- 
stead of setting forth our good qualities. 

For the years following the war, the condition of 
Arkansas was most critical. During that period the 
eyes of the rest of the Union were intently gazing upon 
its various phases of life and action while passing 
through a most trying social and political ordeal. 
Hearsay evidence was often employed and political cap- 
ital manufactured by the press out of the most ordinary 
occurrences of civil life. 

Anarchists in Pennsylvania or Illinois might murder 




COLORED INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE (SISTERS OF CHA 



PERSONAL SAFETY. 

Though it looks an absurdity to people of Arkansas to 
refer to the safety of their State, it might be expected 
of us to allude to the matter. Greece and Rome are 
said to have attained their exceptional prominence in 
history, not because they possessed braver men and 
nobler women and greater numbers of them than other 
contemporary nations, but by reason of their good fortune 
in having a greater number of fluent historians. The 
Southern States, since the close of the late war, are in- 
debted to much the same cause for their unenviable 
place in the sensational annals of the times — with this 
material exception, that our historians have deemed it 



citizens by the dozen, in defiance of State authorities; 
railroad employees in Ohio might band together and 
obstruct general travel, to the danger of the lives of 
thousands of people; mobs might gather in New York 
and Massachusetts, demanding bread or work in menac- 
ing tones; anything else of a like nature and worse 
character might transpire in any Northern city without 
attracting special attention from news agents; but the 
moment any trivial oSense of law happened in Arkansas, 
the whole country must be aroused from peaceful slum- 
ber to gaze upon a more than Bulgarian atrocity. 

Whatever hopes or fears may have been the secret of 
this unfortunate condition of affairs, they no longer 



28 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



exist. Both political parties are united in condemning, 
with the full might of their power, any attempt at repe- 
tition. The Republican and Democratic parties of this 
State are no longer otherwise opposed than the general 
welfare requires political parties to be — a spur and 




KNO.X, PINE BLUFF. 

check upon each other. Political action and expression 
are as free here as in any State in the Union. 

CARRYING WEAPONS. 

The law of the State prohibits the wearing or carry- 
ing of concealed weapons of any description, and we 
assure all who may turn their steps to Jefierson County 
that it is as peaceful as any section of the Union. A 
warm welcome awaits them from the old as well as the 
new settlers. The former are not now able to extend 
hospitality as generously as formerly, but they will re- 
ceive with welcome and treat with kindness all who may 
cast their fortunes with them. 

The following extracts from the pamphlet, entitled 
" Facts Concerning the State of Arkansas," published 
by the State Bureau of Immigration, may be useful to 
many: 

"CARRYING WEAPONS. 

" The law on the subject of carrying weapons in the 
State of Arkansas is, in substance, that anyone wIid 
shall wear or carry as a weapon any knife, dirk, swx t ' 
cane, brass knuckles, slung-shot or a pistol (except tin. 
size used in the United States army and navy), or shall 
sell, barter, exchange or otherwise dispose of or in an\ 
manner furnish such weapons to any person, or shall 
sell or keep for sale any such pistol or cartridge f >v 
them, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, the punish- 
ment for which is a fine of not less than S50 nor more 
than $200. 

' ' Any justice of the peace who knows, or has legal 
information, or has reasonable grounds to believe that 
any person has violated this law and fails to proceed 
against such person, is subject to a like fine and re- 
moval from office; and any officer whose duty it is to 
make arrests, who knows of any person violating this 
law, and shall fail to arrest and bring such person to 
trial, shall be fined not less than $50 or more than S200 



"It will be seen that, in common parlance, Arkansas 
meant business when this law was passed. This busi- 
ness has been so well attended to that there is no State 
in this Union where the percentage of the people who 
carry arms is smaller than in Arkansas. 

"BENEFICENT LAWS. 

"Arkansas is not behind her sister States in protect- 
ing the mechanic and laborer, as well as the farmer, 
by laws which secure to them payment for work and 
labor performed or material furnished, while the Con- 
stitution protects the unfortunate debtor against the 
rapacity of the greedy creditor, saving to him his home- 
stead and a reasonable amount of personal property 
wherewith to protect and care for his family. 

"There are two ways in which the mechanic, laborer 
and material man are protected. One is by a law which 
requires the party to give notice to the builder that he 
is going to do the work or furnish the material and the 
probable cost of such work or material. When this is 
done the builder is justified in withholding such amount 
from the contractor until he is satisfied that such party 
has been paid, and, under the law, becomes surety to 
the party serving such notice, not, however, excluding 
the contract price of the building or improvement, upon 
which the party has a lien under the law. 

' ' The mechanic, laborer and material men who have 
failed to give such notice, have still further protection, 
in this, that the builder is required to withhold one-third 
of the contract price for ten days after the completion 
of said contract, in order that all may have a chance to 
present their claims for work done or material fur- 
nished, and the mechanic and material men are pro- 
tected by lien on the building, or improvement to the 
extent of such third of the contract price. 




" Laborers who perform work for any person, if un- 
paid for the same, have an absolute lien on the produc- 
tion of their labor for such work or labor. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



EXEMPTIONS. 

"The provisions o£ the Constitution of the State in 
the matter of exemption laws are very liberal. 

" Article IX. of the Constitution provides as follows; 

"Sec. 2. The personal property of any resident of 
this State who is married or the head of a family, in 
specific articles to be selected by such resident, not 
exceeding in value the sum of five hundred dollars in 
addition to his or her wearing apparel and that of his 
or her family, shall be exempt from seizure on attach- 
ment, or sale on execution, or other process from any 
court on debt by contract. 

"Sec. 3. The homestead of any resident of this 



vided the same shall not exceed in value the sum o£ 
$2,500, and in no event shall the homestead be reduced 
to less than 80 acres without regard to value. 

" The Constitution further provides, that if the owner 
of the homestead dies, it shall vest in the widow and 
minor children." 

NECESSARY MEANS. 

Some capital is required unless one is content to 
labor under trying disadvantages. The more money, 
of course, the better. Several Western States invite 
none to come who have not Si, 000. Many large and 
small expenses must of necessity be incurred before 
there is a return to meet them. We believe that $500, 




RICHARD ALLEN INSTITUTE (COLORED). 



State, who is married or the head of a family, shall not 
be subject to the lien of any judgment or decree of any 
court, or sale under execution or other process thereon, 
except such as may be rendered for the purchase money 
or for specific liens, laborers' or mechanics' liens for 
improving the same, or for taxes, or against executors, 
administrators, guardians, receivers, attorneys for 
moneys collected by them, and other trustees of an 
express trust for money due from them in their fiduciary 
capacity. 

"Sec. 4. The homestead outside of any city, town 
or village, owned and occupied as a residence, shall 
consist of not exceeding 160 acres of land with the im- 
provements thereon, to be selected by the owner, pro- 



judiciously expended, will prove sufficient for an ordi- 
nary-sized family to start with in Jefferson County. 

TIME TO COME. 

The fall of the year — the months of October and 
November — is thought to be the best season for coming. 
In the East and in Europe the busy season will have 
closed, and the idle time and expensive winter will be 
approaching. Here the summer is dull and the winter 
good in business. 

In the fall the air is the purest of the whole year and 
the general health of the people the best. The country 
roads are in their finest condition. It is also the most 
suitable time to prepare for the coming crop. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. in a day. month or year, north, south, east or west. In- 

It might jirove acceptable to those whom we are ad- telligence. sobriety, industry and Christian rectitude 

dressing if we should, before concluding our pamphlet, will obtain riches for one as soon and as sufficiently as 

offer some words of advice upon what steps had better it is good to have them. 






-it ^ 




be taken by them. To those th r ithout f n 1 1 hi e ot c - 

First of all, we advise any one who is comfortably fortable homes and who a// bcj nmtn wishing to 

situated to remain where he is. "Leave well enough settle in Jefferson County, we ha\e a few suggestions to 

alone." Do not imagine that fortunes are to be made make: 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



Where a number in the same vicinity are anxious to every facility to accomplish the object of his mis- 
move hither, the most satisfactory method is to select sion. 

one reliable man of their own party, instruct him upon In cases where the above plan cannot be carried out, 

all their wants and desires, and send him here in ad- we should offer the following i 




vance to make all necessary arr.ingtments. The citi- 
zens of Jefferson County, the officers and members 
of our Society in particular, would extend to such 
an agent every possible courtesy, and furnish him 



2. Determine on what : 
and the price. 



y on bottom land or up- 
farm or number of acres 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



3. Determine upon the locality, whether near Pine lower than could be obtained by individual applica- 
Bluff, the river, a railroad, or church. tion. 

4. Write us a letter, stating exactly the determina- Upon the receipt of letters, we should feel obligated 
tions on each of these points. to obtain for the several persons or families, as nearly 




Our acquaintance with the various routes of travel, as possible, what is needed. After a few interchanges 

their connections and changes of time, will be useful; of letters we might appoint a place of meeting for those 

also, our relations with railroad companies enable of the vicinity of our correspondents. 

us to obtain for emigrants or immigrants a rate much The time of departure, the route, and the time of 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



33 



arrival having been noted, no confusion or useless ex- 
pense need be incurred, as transportation would be in 
readiness to transfer them, on arrival at Pine Bluff, to 
their new homes. 

No obligation shall be required to be entered into to 



"Cotton-Growing Companies ' and through the usual 
officers of president, directors, etc., buy large tracts of 
land in the rich alluvial portions of the county, and 
plant, cultivate and sell as circumstances required. 
Shares of stock would be placed in the market by proper 




retain the selected place. Each person or family 
merely agrees to take a certain place on trial, with the 
privilege of going elsewhere whenever it is desirable. 

To capitalists there is open a large and as yet unoccu- 
pied field of enterprise. Capitalists of the Middle 
States, New England, or Old England, might organize 



agents and the stockholders made the real owners, 
Such companies would, under a natural force of circum- 
stances, establish on their plantations, or at Pine Bluff, 
cotton factories, spinning factories and oil mills. This 
system is specially for capitalists with reference to bot- 
tom lands. Its advantages are: The owner may live 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 




MERRILL INSTITUTE (WHITE), PINE BLlJFF. 



anywhere while his money is here at work; levees and 
roads, bridges and other public improvements in the 
swampy districts would be raised to something like 
perfection; lastly, those richest lands of the world — the 
alluvial deposit being from fifteen to thirty feet — would 



be cultivated on scientific principles and made to pro- 
duce almost fabulous crops. 

Letters may be addressed to the Secretary or any 
officer of the Association. 




JE.NCE AND VINE\ARD OF MR CURRIE 



MILES SOUTHWEST OF PINE BLUFF. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



a5 



oxjpi E:isra-PLJ^"v^i:isrc3i-s. 



The purpose which we have in view in presenting to 
the public the engravings which are to be seen in this 
book, is to picture forth just so many of the residences, 
public buildings and city views as will enable people at 
a distance, when reading it. to form for themselves a 
pretty good idea of the character of our city. As to 
private residences, it would be easy to fill the book 
with them. We therefore give only a few typical resi- 
dences. 

CITY HIGH SCHOOL. 

This school was a handsome three-story building, 
costing, with block of ground, improvements and fur- 
niture, SiS.ooo. The location is on Sixth Avenue. The 
attendance in 1892 was 350. It is for white children 
alone, and employs seven teachers. Owing to a fire 
(February, 1892), a contract has been let to rebuild and 
remodel, with east and west wings. The engraving is 
of new building. (See page 19.) 

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS. 

This resort lies seven miles southwest of Pine Bluff 
Its elevation above Pine Bluff is about 200 feet. A splen- 
did drive now leads out from the city, but a charter fo 
a raihoad has already been secured. These springs 
several in number, possess marked health-giving prop 
erties, containing sulphur, alum, magnesia, iron, soda 
arsenic, and free stone. The property is owned by th( 
White Sulphur Spring Land and Improvement Com 
pany. There is a large hotel open the year 'round. 
Thirty or more handsome private cottages are already 
erected. Before the war this resort enjoyed a general 
reputation. (See page 32.) 

COLORED NORMAL 

The Branch Normal College is a department of the 
Arkansas State Industrial University, located at Fay- 
etteville, established by an act of the General Assem- 
bly of the State of Arkansas, approved April 25th, 1873, 
and has been in operation since September 27th, 1875. 
Its primary object is the training of teachers for effi- 
cient service in the colored public schools of the State, 
the law referred to having been enacted with special 
reference to the "convenience of the poorer classes." 
It was placed at Pine Bluff as being central for the col- 
ored people. There is no charge for tuition. Appoint- 
ments are made by the County Judges. The school 
property consists of a beautiful tract of twenty acres of 
land in the western part of the city, and close to the 
junction of the Little Rock, Mississippi River & Texas 
Railway and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway. 
The building was completed in 188 1, and is a handsome 
edifice. It is of brick, two stories high, with slate roof 
and trimmings of Alabama granite, and cost, with im- 
provements and furniture, St2,ooo. Later improve- 



ments have added considerably to this sum. The fur- 
niture and equipments are of the best modern style. A 
two-story brick dormitory for females and a building for 
the Mechanical Department have recently been com- 
pleted, the latter of which has an excellent outfit of 
machinery. The course of study is somewhat more ex- 
tensive than is usual in normal institutions. The 
attendance is 250, and the number of teachers employed 
seven. Prof. J. C. Corbin, a graduate of Ohio Univer- 
sity, is principal. (See page 33.) 

HOTEL TRULOCK. 

This is the largest hotel in Southeastern Arkansas, 
has eighty rooms, and is equipped with the best modern 
conveniences. The property is owned by the Trulock 
Brothers, natives of Jefferson County. The present 
lessee, C. H. Owens, is continually adding to its beauty 
and comfort. Its location on the main thoroughfare of 
the city, makes it convenient to business men, while 
street cars and 'busses put it in easy communication with 
depots and places of resort. It is the fashionable hotel 
of the city, and attracts a large patronage. (See page 8.) 

HOTELS FOR COLORED PEOPLE. 

The Pine Bluff Hotel on lower Barraque Street, and 
the Central Hotel on upper Barraque, are exclusively 
for the accommodation of colored people. They are 
well patronized, and are managed in the most approved 
style. Besides these hotels there are numerous smaller 
boarding places for colored people. 

RESIDENCE AND PLANTATION OF MR. JOHN M. GRACIE, 
NEW GASCONV. 

The engraving on page 30 shows forth the character 
of Mr. Gracie better than words. His own residence is 
a modest but comfortable structure. A school house 
occupies a prominent place on the plantation, as it 
should upon every plantation. A type of the dwellings 
occupied by his colored tenants is also given. A rail- 
way, the Pine Bluff, Monroe & Eastern, passes diagon- 
ally through his large cotton field. Mr. Gracie culti- 
vates 5,000 acres of cotton, and owns of other lands 
10, 000 acres. The crop is chiefly cotton — corn and other 
products being raised only for home use. He is quite 
a young man, born and raised in Jefferson County, and 
possesses a liberal and progressive spirit. For many 
years he was the trusted manager, though a mere boy. 
of his grandfather. Col. Creed Taylor, the oldest 
pioneer of the State. Col. Taylor was the first Sheriff 
and County Judge of Jefferson County, and died in 
1887, at the age of 87. Mr' Gracie inherited many of 
his business qualities, and is now on the road to pros- 
perity and prominence, and one of the largest planters 
in the State. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



BLUFF CITY MILL AND LUMBER YARD. 

The Blufi City Mill and Lumber Company, whose 
lid and mills are pictured in the engraving on page 31, 



is the largest establishment of its kind in the State. 
The location is between the junction of the Missouri 
Pacific Railway and the St. Louis & Southwestern Rail- 
way, in the western portion of the city. It manufactures 
lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors, blinds, and all 
kinds of house trimmings. It employs 100 men in the 
Pine Bluff mill, besides a large number in its outside 
mills. It does a general wholesale and retail business, 
gives estimates on all classes of material, and fills orders 
from distant States as well as from home builders and 
contractors. 

RESIDENCE, FRUIT FARM AND VINEYARD OF MR. CURRIE. 

This place is situated eight miles southwest of Pine 
Blu£f, and on the public road between the White Sul- 
phur Springs and Lee's Springs. The orchard embraces 
the most popular varieties of fruits of every description 
adapted to this soil and climate, consisting of apples, 
pears, plums, etc. Raspberries and strawberries of the 
choicest varieties are grown in abundance, which find a 
ready market and at remunerative prices in the City of 
Pine Bluff. (See page 34.) 

The vineyard covers an area of twenty-five acres or 
more, embracing all the varieties of the best wine and 
table grapes known to the vinters of our country. Of 
the bunch grapes the Ives Seedling and Norton Virginia 
are the leading varieties, yielding enormous crops of the 
most delicious fruit. 

The Scuppernong, the best wine grape in America, 
is grown to perfection here. The vines are trained on 
arbors, many of which cover 900 to 1,200 square feet. 
These vines require no pruning, and their range is un- 
limited. 

Besides supplying the market of Pine Bluff with sev- 
eral thousand pounds of grapes annually, a large quan- 
tity of the best wine is made, each crop being disposed 
of in our homv, market by tne time the new is ready. 

The soil is a sandy loam with clay subsoil, and is ad- 
mirably adapted to the growing of vegetables of every 
description. The surface is 140 feet above that of Pine 
Bluff. Mr. Currie is a thrifty, well-to-do farmer and a 
worthy citizen. 

RESIDENCE OF MR. JOHN MC CAIN. 

The cut on page 22 represents the residence of Mr. 
John M. McCain, of the firm of McCain & Houston, 
wholesale and retail grocers. It is a type of brick 
veneer work, and the finest in the city. Its location, on 
the corner of Walnut Street and Twelfth Avenue, is one 
of the most desirable in the suburban district of Lake- 
side. Mr. McCain is a native Arkansan, and was raised 
in Jefferson County. Though still a young man, and 
starting with nothing but honesty and honorable ambi- 
tion, he has now one of the best businesses in the city, 
a home anyone might envy, and has just placed upon 
the market 200 beautiful building lots not far east of his 
own residence. 



ANNUNCIATION ACADEMY. 

In the year 1880, five Sisters of Charity, upon invi- 
tation of Father Lucey, came to Pine Bluff from Nazar- 
eth, Ky., to found a school. There are now nine sisters 
and their building, as the engraving on page 10 shows, 
is a handsome and commodious edifice. They teach 
all the branches usually taught in any academy — liter- 
ature, music, painting, drawing, waxwork, hair braiding, 
plain and fancy needlework, embroidery, etc. They 
also have a department for small boys. The enroll- 
ment of the school in 1S92-3 was 250. Their graduates 
are remarkable for thoroughness in school work. The 
best families of the city and country, irrespective of re- 
ligion, entrust their daughters to the care of the sisters. 
Their grounds are about two acres in extent, adjoin the 
Catholic church, and form the most delightful spot in 
. the city, on the corner of Laurel Street and Sixth 
Avenue, 

MACHINE AND CAR SHOPS OF THE ST. LOUIS SOUTHWEST- 
ERN RAILWAY. 

These shops are situated in the eastern portion of the 
city, on a reservation of 100 acres. The original inten- 
tion of the railway company was to erect shops suitable 
to accommodate the business of the Arkansas and Mis- 
souri division, but the plans were changed and the size 
of the shops increased so that all heavy repairs and re- 
building of engines and cars of the entire system could 
be done at this place. The system now extends from 
Cairo, 111., to Gatesville, Fort Worth and Lufkin, 
Texas, having a total mileage of 1,230 miles. The 
shops have been the means of disbursing about $40,000 
monthly for the past six years, and it is expected that 
this amount will be increased $15,000 per month as soon 
as the new car shops now being contracted for are com- 
pleted. (See pages 20-21.) 

The present shops are four in number, built of brick 
and conveniently located; the main building is 124x284 
feet; the blacksmith shop is Soxioo feet; the paint shop 
is 40x80 feet, with a roundhouse of fifteen stalls; and 
other smaller cut-buildings— icehouse, sandhouse, and 
foremen's offices. The main store room of the system, 
and the offices of the general master mechanic are con- 
veniently located, and are 60x150 feet. 

The citizens have raised a bonus of $25,000 to secure 
the erection of an additional shop for the building of 
freight and passenger cars, and it will probably be well 
under way by the time this is in print. This will cover 
the same amount of space as the present main building, 
124x284 feet, but one end of the building, 120x124 <eet, 
will be made two stories. New and improved machin- 
ery has been constantly added to the shops, and the new 
car shops will be equipped with a full complement of 
the most modern tools, which will make the plant one 
of the best in the Southwest. The present force is 
about 550 men, but this will no doubt be largely in- 
creased soon. 

The company at present has 130 standard gauge and 
nine narrow gauge locomotives, and of these seventy- 
five run in and out of Pine Bluff, and receive all repairs 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



37 



here, while the others have a great deal of heavy repairs 
made to them here. All repairs of cars of any conse- 
quence are also done at this place. It is the intention 
of the company to add largely to their car equipment 
this year, all of which, both passenger and freight cars, 
will be built in the shops at this place. 

The shops are very pleasantly situated, having plenty 
of air, light, good water and drainage, which render 
them comfortable for the employes. 

Quite a suburban town has been built up around the 
shops, and is- connected by a street railway with the city 
proper. A large number of the buildings in this suburb 
are owned by shop employes, which has had a tendency 
to gradually improve the class of men employed. 



COLORED INDUSTRIAL ) 

This school is situated near Jones Park, at the corner 
of State and Fifteenth Avenue. It was opened in Sep- 
tember, i88g. The teachers are Sisters of Charity of 
Nazareth, four of whom are in charge. Though under 
the auspices of the Catholic Church, its board of direc- 
tors is composed of the Mayor of the City, Judge of the 
County, two leading colored men, pastor of St. Joseph's 
church, and two other prominent citizens. The prop- 
erty is an entire block of ground within one square of 
Main Street. The annual enrollment is 200. The 
usual literary branches are taught. The industrial 
branches are plain sewing, crochet work, knitting, darn- 
ing, mending, plain dress making, cutting by chart, 
plain embroidery, and machine sewing. Instructions 
in the theory of cooking and housekeeping are given. 
It is the intention of the board of directors to erect a 
building where cooking, housekeeping and nursing will 
be practically taught. For the boys, work in wood is the 
only industrial department yet opened, but a farm will 
soon be purchased, where they will be trained in farm- 
ing and practical trades. (See page 27.) 

STANDARD COMPRESS AND WAREHOUSE COMPANY. 

The building of this company is most conveniently 
located at the junction of and between the L. R., M. R. 
& T. Railway (M. P.) and the St. Louis Southwestern 
Railway, in the western part of the city. The capital 
stock is $200,000. President, J. F. Hicks; treasurer and 
secretary, J, B. Trulock. It has one of the latest im- 
proved go-inch Morse compresses. (See engraving on 
page 25.) The capacity of the compress is 120 bales 
of cotton an hour. The main building, all brick, is 
360x240 feet, or an entire square, with a storage capac- 
ity of 25,000 bales of cotton. In the shipment of cotton, 
compressing so increases the facilities for handling and 
for storing on vessels bound for Europe, that it has 
grown into quite a business. 

MAIN STREET, LOOKING SOUTH. 

This picture, on page 3, gives a good view of Main 
street, with its business houses, which is rapidly be- 
coming the great thoroughfare of the city. Its growth 
at present is only of a few years. Many new brick 
buildings are already planned and will be erected very 
soon. 



MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTH. 

This view, shown on page 2, will enable a person at a 
distance to form an idea of the vastness of the principal 
street of the town. From the first day of October to 
about April first following, every day almost, this street 
is well packed with cotton wagons. The street cars 
must patiently work their way through. On Saturday 
evenings, always a holiday in cotton countries, the scene 
is brightened by the crowding of the sidewalks with the 
farming community, old and young. 

BARRAgUE STREET, LOOKING EAST. 

This engraving, on page 6, gives a view of what, ten 
years ago, formed the chief business portion of the city. 
Then, however, the buildings were for the most part 
frame structures now replaced by brick ones. This 
part of Barraque street still retains many of the leading 
houses of the city and bids fair to hold its own. Several 
two-story brick stores are now in course of erection on 
its north side. The street is named after Antoine Bar- 
raque, one of Bonaparte's officers, who was among the 
first settlers of Southeastern Arkansas. 

FIFTH AVENUE, LOOKING WEST. 
This view, on page 7, gives a picture of a section of 
the oldest part of the city, though even to the present 
time it includes a share of the business houses. The 
steadily increasing value of property all over the city 
is also noticeable here, and in a little while it will be 
on an equality with what are now more favored dis- 
tricts. 

RESIDENCE OF MR. JOHN GILLESPIE. 

Mr. Gillespie, a cut of whose residence we give on 
page 24, is a native of Tennessee, but has resided in 
JeSerson county, this State, since 1844, and in Pine 
Bluff since 1850. He is a member of the firm of Gil- 
lespie Bros., wholesale and retail dealers in dry goods, 
clothing, staple and fancy groceries, plantation sup- 
plies and country produce. Their place of business is 
at the northwest corner of Lindsey Street and Second 
Avenue. Mr. Gillespie is noted for his quiet habits, 
industry, and honest dealings with all men. His resi- 
dence is situated on the corner of Chestnut Street and 
Sixth Avenue, where he enjoys the pleasures of a happy 
home, with the prospect of many years' continuance. 

RESIDENCE OF CHARLES TRIPLET. 

Mr. Charles Triplet is a native of Jefferson County, 
having been born here in 1850. He has twice held the 
office of County Treasurer. While inheriting from 
Virginia parentage strong traits of character, his own 
individual force shows that he deserves the success 
which has rewarded his industry, and which awaits in 
Arkansas the efforts of every young man of similar in- 
dustry and sobriety. Through his financial tact over 
$60,000 have been paid on life insurance of members of 
societies, to the widows and orphans of the deceased 
members. 

Mr. Triplet's father had charge of the transfer of the 
remains of George Washington from the mahogany 
coffin in which they were first laid to the sarcophagus 



JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARK. 



on Mount Vernon where they now repose. A piece of 
the original coflin is in possession of Mr, Triplet. 

His home is on West Fourth Avenue, where with wife 
and children he is noted for his generous hospitality. 
(See page 17.) 

FROPERTV OF WILEY JONES. 

Pine Grove Stock Farm, The Citizens' Street Rail- 
way, Stables, and Citizens' Park are all the property of 
Mr. Wiley Jones, a colored man, one of the most enter- 
prising citizens of Pine Bluff, Ark. His Pine Grove 
Stock Farm of fifty-five acres, situated in the southeast- 
ern part of the City of Pine Bluff, is one of its most at- 
tractive points. Here Mr. Jones breeds his blooded 
horses, some of which have taken high position on the 
turf. The grounds are interspersed with fine shade 
trees, and are well kept. The farm embraces the 
grounds, buildings, and amphitheatre for the Agricult- 
ural Fair Exhibit. His Citizens' Street Railway, twelve 
miles in 'ength, has its commodious stables on the line, 
at the junction of Cherry Street and Twelfth Avenue, 
centrally located, and admirably adapted to the require- 
ments. One of the most attractive features of the city, 
lying south of the stables, between Eighteenth and 
Twentieth Avenues, is the Citizens' Park of eight acres, 
viith its shade trees and pavilions, a pleasant spot for 
recreation. This park is one of the most attractive re- 
sorts in the country for those seeking rest and pleasure. 

Mr. Jones was a slave boy, possessing far greater 
natural capacity for business than one in many thousand 
of his race. With a wonderful memory and excellent 
judgment, he has amassed quite a large fortune, aud is 
ever ready to help his race to a higher plane of useful- 
ness and citizenship. (See page n.) 

GARDEN OF PIO MERLO. 

The engraving presents the garden of Pio Merlo, as it 
was in January, with a slight snow on the ground. The 
total extent is ten acres, the whole of which is continu- 
ally in cultivation in one crop or another. Every day 
of the year the two wagons of Mr. Merlo are to be seen 
on the streets of Pine Bluff loaded with choice and fresh 
vegetables. At an exhibition held some time ago he 
presented fifty-six varieties of vegetables. He is stead- 
ily accumulating a fortune, and is regarded as one of 
our most honorable citizens. (See page 13.) 

DILLEY FOUNDRY COMPANY. 

The firm, formerly George M. Dilley & Son, was in- 
corporated January i, 1893, with $75,000 capital stock, 
paid up. They do a general jobbing trade in foundry 
and machine shop, and are agents for machinery of 
every description. They carry an extensive and com- 
plete line of saw-mill supplies, and furnish the castings, 
under contract, for the Cotton Belt R. R. Co. 

Geo. M. Dilley, of Dallas, Texas, is president; Geo. 
E. Dilley, of Palestine, Texas, is vice-president, and A. 
A. LeLaurin, of Pine Blufi, is secretary and treasurer. 
This firm expects, in the near future, to build good, 
substantial brick shops, to take the place of the present 
buildings. The engraving shows the interior of their 
machine shop. (See page 21.) 



BERRY GARDEN AND FARM OF W. T. SIMPSON 

The farm of W. T. Simpson, of a portion of which a 
picture is given, lies four miles southwest of the city, in 
the first rise of hill land. There are at least six large 
berry gardens near Pine Bluff, with many smaller ones. 
There are fifteen varieties of berries successfully culti- 
vated, and as they grow luxuriantly, it is the most lucra- 
tive crop of all. Mr Simpson has an extensive farm 
and garden. His berry patch is quite large, and is se- 
lected as a type. He is a progressive farmer, a hard 
worker, and highly honorable in all his dealings. (See 
p. 14.) 

RICHARD ALLEN INSTITUTE. 

This school, an engraving of whose buildings we pre- 
sent, is situated in the western suburbs of the city. It 
is under the control of the Presbyterian Church, and a 
large congregation is gradually growing up under its 
influence. There are eight teachers and an enrollment 
of 250 pupils. The tuition is merely nominal, owing to 
endowment. Its new dormitory affords ample accom- 
modations for children from a distance. It is connect- 
ed with the Mary Allen Institute, of Crockett, Texas, 
both schools being the princely gift of the philanthropic 
Allen family of Illinois. (See page 29.) 

PINE BLUFF MILL AND ELEVATOR COMPANY. 

This manufacturing establishment fills an important 
place in the business of wholesale and retail grocers, as 
it affords meal, chops, grits and hominy right at home, 
and so fresh and sweet as to exclude the stale article 
from a distance. Its product is 650 barrels of bolted 
corn meal daily, 75,000 pounds corn chops, and propor- 
tionately of grits and hominy. The capital stock is 
$50,000, of which $42,500 is paid up. President, E. L. 
Taylor; secretary and treasurer, W. H. Langtord; man- 
ager, P. P. Byrd. (See page 23 ) 

RESIDENCE OF MR. R. M. KNOX. 

Col. R. M. Knox, as he is called, though he went into 
the war and came out orderly sergeant of a Confederate 
Mississippi regiment, is regarded as one of the promi- 
nent citizens of Pine Bluff. He was born in Milan, 
Gibson County, Tennessee, but raised in Panola County, 
Miss. With $1,500 as his fortune, he came to Pine 
Bluff, July 27th, 1S71. His wealth is now placed at 
$60,000, the result of industry, honesty, and good judg- 
ment, as a dealer in general merchandise. His trade 
of late years has been extensive with the bottom 
planters, though in earlier years, and when the greater 
part of his present fortune was making, his patrons 
were the small farmers in the hills of Jeffer.son and 
adjacent counties. He is liberal handed in works of 
charity and public enterprises. His residence on West 
Sixth Avenue is one of the most comfortable homes in 
the city (page 26). His brick store (see engraving, page 
28), on the corner of Barraque and Chestnut Streets, is 
large and convenient, and vies with the best the city 



RESIDENCE OF N. B. TRULOCK. 

This building is a type of the finest residences in 
town. It is finished throughout in native oak. In the 



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